Riley is one of my favorite authors, so I was beyond excited to get my hands on this one. It’s about Ethan and his best friend Billy, and the summer Billy is taken from a tent in Ethan’s backyard in the middle of the night. The tent is cut open and no one hears from Billy again. Now years later, Ethan is back in his parents house after his life is turned upside down. Ethan has both terrifying dreams of the night Billy disappeared, as well as insomnia, and now signs of Billy’s presence start showing up in Ethan’s backyard. Is this just a joke? Or has Billy somehow returned to Hemlock circle?

Thoughts: This book was much anticipated and the cover grabbed my attention right away. I love the idea of someone going missing in the middle of the night, and all the mystery surrounding it. I loved the setting of the mysterious institute that may or may not be a cult. It’s more of a mystery than thriller, and the multiple perspectives make for a slow burn.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t my favorite of Sager’s. First of all, it was repetitive and a bit boring. Ethan didn’t have much of a personality, and the way his insomnia is described is confusing. The supernatural elements were not interesting and felt obvious on where they were going. All the reveals were predictable, and there were too many thrown in. Lots of things didn’t make sense (they didn’t search the grounds? He just happened to call when the police found something?). It seemed like a lot of ideas were thrown together to make a book that felt disjointed and predictable. Sadly, 3 stars for this one.

I couldn’t believe my luck when I was approved for an ARC of Riley Sager’s newest book. Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this opportunity.

Thirty years ago, ten-year-old Ethan Marsh and his best friend Billy were camping in Ethan’s backyard when Billy vanished. Now, Ethan has returned to his old house and is determined to find out what happened that summer night. When Billy’s remains are discovered not far from the house, on the property of the Hawthorne Institute, Ethan becomes convinced this secret research facilities was involved in the event.

I found this story rather hard to get into. When I was 30% into the book, I actually put it away and read something else, but I decided to give Middle of the night another shot and I am very glad I did. After that 30% mark the story really took off and I couldn’t put my Kindle down. I devoured the rest of the story in a day because I couldn’t wait to find out what had happened.

All in all, a spooky summer read by one of the best writers in this genre. Definitely recommend!

The synopsis: Ethan and his best friend fell asleep in a tent in Ethan's backyard in July. The next morning, he was the only one left. His best friend was never seen again. Now, thirty years later, Ethan is back in his childhood home, having been plagued his whole life by this night. He determines to find out what really happened that night.

This had good set-up and mostly compelling characters, but it felt like most of the side characters were not completely fleshed out, even if some of the stories were significant to the overall plot. The pacing was a bit slow, despite the promise of an action-packed thriller. I still read it and enjoyed much of it, but the ending felt like a letdown compared to the build-up. The very end was also a bit trite.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for providing a digital galley proof in exchange for an honest review.

Riley Sager's latest thriller, "Middle of the Night," is a captivating and suspenseful page-turner that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. The novel follows a man who must confront the long-ago disappearance of his childhood friend, a mystery that has haunted him for years.
The story is expertly crafted, with Sager weaving together multiple timelines and perspectives to create a complex and intriguing narrative. The atmospheric setting and the author's skilled use of tension and mystery contribute to the overall sense of unease that permeates the book. Readers will find themselves constantly guessing and second-guessing the characters' motives and the true nature of the events that unfold.
One of the novel's strengths is its well-developed characters. The protagonist is a flawed and relatable individual, struggling with the weight of his past and the uncertainty of the present. The supporting cast is equally compelling, each with their own secrets and agendas that add depth and complexity to the story.
Sager's writing is both elegant and accessible, drawing the reader in with its vivid descriptions and sharp dialogue. The pacing is impeccable, with the narrative building in intensity and suspense until the final, jaw-dropping conclusion.
Overall, "Middle of the Night" is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and anyone who appreciates a well-crafted, intricate mystery. Riley Sager has once again proven himself to be a master of the genre, delivering a gripping and unforgettable tale that will linger in the reader's mind long after the last page is turned.

Only Riley Sager can spin a “ghost story” that will keep you riveted from beginning to end and not expect how it ends!! GREAT book, Sager never disappoints!!

While this one falls in line with every Riley Sager book I’ve read in that it plays out like a movie, I didn’t love it as much as his other ones. Going to be vague because I want to avoid spoilers, but I felt like he took a risk doing something different, but to me it just was a bit meh. 3.5 stars rounded to 4 because I still really love the writing and atmosphere of the book!

One thing I can say about Sager's books is they are never predictable. So many different scenarios ran through my mind about how Billy Barringer disappeared 30 years ago, but none of them were correct. After his body is found, things become even more odd as Ethan Marsh is living back in his childhood home where Billy disappeared from his backyard tent. Ethan thinks he is being haunted by Billy's ghost and that he is trying to send him a message about what happened to him. When the truth finally unfolds, it isn't what anyone expected and changes everyone's life completely.

I received a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been sitting on this one for a while, but I decided to save it for vacation. In my pre-Netgalley days, I always read Sager’s new books while poolside. Now apparently I read them at the beach! I liked this one, but it’s not my favorite of Sager’s (but it’s better than the one about the water that possesses people…).

Our main character is Ethan Marsh. When he was ten years old, he and his best friend Billy were camping in the backyard (something they did every week). Except on this Saturday morning, Ethan woke up alone - Billy was gone and there was a huge hole carved in the side of the tent. So someone sliced the tent open, took Billy and… no one knows. He’s been missing for 20 years, and now Ethan is back in his parents’ house (his parents having moved to Florida), with a surprising number of the same people STILL living on that cul de sac. There’s his babysitter Ashley, his friend Russ (who I guess became his best friend after Billy was kidnapped), even his childhood bully Ragesh is still around (except now he’s a detective). There are semi-reasonable explanations for why everyone ended up back here, which basically all boil down to “aging parents,” but it’s still weird.

Ethan hasn’t really slept well since the night of the kidnapping, and being back at the scene of the crime isn’t exactly the healing experience he hopes it will be. Particularly because weird things start happening - things that could only be done by one person…Billy. Is he really back? Or does his spirit want something from Ethan? Sager’s books usually have supernatural elements, and although everything usually has a rational explanation by the end, the creep factor is high (Home Before Dark in particular gave me nightmares!). This wasn’t quite as creepy as previous outings, and since the story itself is a little thin, the lack of creep factor really stood out this time.

The novel also jumps around a LOT - we’re jumping in time, getting closer and closer to the moment of Billy’s kidnapping, but we’re of course also jumping around with POVs *within* both of these timelines. It’s too much, and again, highlights the fact that the plot is just kinda thin, in the end. There’s also this creepy…campus? Called the Hawthorn Institute, that’s like a mile away from the famed cul de sac where all of this takes place. I really wanted more details about this! We know that Billy was kind of obsessed with the place, and it eventually turns out that on the day he went missing, Billy (and Ethan. And Ashley. And Russ. And Ragesh) had been on the grounds of the institute. A fact that none of the others ever mentioned to the police - mostly because they were afraid of getting nailed for trespassing, but a fact that doesn’t look great for any of them in the present day, when some new evidence is uncovered.

It’s entertaining, but there are way too many moving pieces, and although I didn’t have trouble following any of it, like I said, it just feels like a way to try to beef up the plot. Usually Sager’s plots are a little more graceful than that (The Only One Left blew my dang mind!).

I've always seen books by Riley Sager in my day to day life, but I've never checked them out until now, and I am sure glad I did. Ever since his best friend went missing, Ethan hasn't come home in years (30 to be exact). When he finally does return, he's haunted by the trauma of it all and, possibly, the ghost of his best friend. When Billy's body is found by a mysterious research center, it's up to him and his neighbors to figure out exactly what happened.

Sager's mix of the past and present, along with incorporating different view points, make this an engaging and gripping read. I was constantly guessing who the killer was (and ending up wrong every time) and each time I read a new chapter, I switched my guess. My only negative is (mild spoilers) that I didn't understand why Henry was kidnapped to lure Ethan into the woods- Ethan had only known Henry for about a week by that point. Otherwise, this was an excellent read I would happily suggest to anyone who loves paranormal mysteries.

Thank you so much to the kind folks over at Dutton and NetGalley for the eARC!

Riley Sager has long been an auto-buy author for me in the thriller genre delivering enthralling titles such as last summer’s, The Only One Left, and my personal favorite, Home Before Dark. With seven previous works under his belt, each year holds the anticipation of a new Sager novel, something I constantly look forward to with keen excitement. This year is no exception with the upcoming release of his suburban thriller, Middle of the Night, a novel in which my hype may have sullied my reading experience.

The synopsis of Middle of the Night seems straight-forward enough; two young boys camp in their backyard one summer night only for one of them to go missing. With the case unsolved, the remaining boy, Ethan, is plagued by the loss of his best friend, especially since returning to the same neighborhood in which this tragedy occurred thirty years later. Naturally, weird things start happening again, and Ethan feels highly motivated to find out what really happened that night. There are a few set pieces that drape this story in intrigue such as a mysterious institute, foggy memories, and eerie woods. These are all typical hallmarks of a Sager thriller in which expectations are normally subverted even heightening the already mysterious. Unfortunately, I can’t say this is true of Middle of the Night.

I want to start by saying in no way is Middle of the Night a bad book. It’s another honest thriller that Sager can add to his growing list of works that does the job just fine. However, following the release of a book such as The Only One Left, I held extremely high creative expectations for Middle of the Night, a book that takes on the very well-established suburban thriller trope. I was sincerely hoping this sub-genre would be flipped on its head and a new, exciting twist would emerge; sadly, I predicted about 80% of the ending within the first few chapters.

Aside from following typical patterns, Ethan’s character and the pacing of this novel gave me immense pause. Ethan is a man who is completely defined by his trauma, something that we’ve seen time and time again in these types of stories. Of course, we can empathize with him for the immense loss he has suffered from an early age, and like him, we want to know the truth. Aside from his chronic insomnia and survivor’s guilt, I really can’t comment much more on his character. He’s a fine guy, all in all, a normal kid as we see in the flashback chapters, but again, nothing that really demands attention. This perhaps works hand in hand with the pacing issue in which we spend most of this novel in Ethan’s head repeatedly addressing his insurmountable guilt and lack of memory of that fateful night. I do understand these feelings of frustration and grief needed to be established for Ethan in earnest, but I also feel as though this was an overwritten facet of his character that ultimately slowed the story down.

Conversely, Middle of the Night succeeds through Sager’s classic, tight writing in moments of tremendous suspense and possible danger. In both genres of horror and thriller combined, I haven’t come across many authors who can instill the sense of genuine fear that Sager can in these concise, momentary scenes of unease. We see this specifically in this novel when Ethan begins to notice strange occurrences around the neighborhood only in (you guessed it) the middle of the night. While short in duration, these moments lend plenty of credence to increasing the overall feeling of suspense throughout the whole novel. Truthfully, this kind of writing is the reason I will read any book Sager publishes.

Middle of the Night is another solid thriller from Sager that is probably best suited for newcomers to the thriller genre. Many of the plot points of this story felt easily predictable, but this is coming from someone who has read more than her share of the genre. Riley Sager still manages to execute a few twists and delivers excellent moments of the tightest kind of suspense to keep this slow-burn plot trucking along. If you’re looking to introduce someone to the world of thrillers, Middle of the Night is the ideal novel that soundly executes mystery, tension, and uncertainty.

A young boy goes missing and his best friend is still wondering what happened 30 years later.

Ethan and his best friend Billy, are camping out in Ethan's backyard as they have done all summer. When morning comes, Ethan sees a slash and the tent wall and Billy is missing. No trace of Billy was ever found. Years later, Ethan moves back to his childhood house after his parents have moved out. The cul-de-sac still has many of the original families and Ethan begins to again question what happened to his friend.

Interesting characters and good pacing make this an egrossing read

As a Riley Sager fan, I was looking forward to the release of Middle of the Night and was even more excited to receive an ARC of this novel. Middle of the Night is everything you want in a Riley Sager novel. It's full of suspense and mystery with just the touch of supernatural spookiness that is a trademark of a Sager novel. The story begins in 1994 with the disappearance of Ethan Marsh's best friend, Billy, from his backyard when they're camping during a summer night. Now in his 40s, Ethan grapples with the guilt and mystery of Billy's disappearance and lack of answers of what happened to him as the case remains cold. From there the story flashes between memories of that entire day in 1994 and the present Ethan, now back in his family home where Billy disappeared, along with other neighborhood characters that played a part in the events of that day, trying to piece together what really happened that night. Sager weaves an enticing, nail biting story that leaves you wondering if you believe in ghosts or if monsters only exist in the real world. This was one I didn't want to put down and when I did, I was rushing to get back to it. A perfect summer thriller to add to this years TBR.

When Ethan was 10 years old, his best friend, Billy, disappeared while they were camping in his backyard. Ethan woke to seeing a gap in the tent they were sleeping in and 30 years later, the mystery still hasn't been solved. Ethan moves back to his childhood home and is haunted by the memories of that night.

Told both in the present tense through Ethan's perspective and the past in third person narratives, Sager had me wanting desperately to know what happened to Billy. I wasn't expecting to have so many twists and turns in this story; it comes across as a simple story of a boy who disappeared from a quiet suburban neighborhood. However, as you dive into the story you realize that things aren't quite what they seem.

I loved this book and gobbled it up in less than a day. Highly recommend. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I am giving this book 3 stars. I was interested in it and it felt creepy at times. However, it was very repetitive and the characters were lackluster.

Riley Sager is a consistently dependable author when it comes to thrillers and suspense - that being said, this one was just average for me.
The protagonist was sympathetic, the conflict was intriguing, but the pacing was off. I felt like I was forcing myself to keep picking it up at some points. Being someone who has a hard time not skipping to read the end of every book, I found this one that much more difficult simply because I was bored.
When the ending did come, it felt like a let down somehow.
I would still say it's worth a read if you're a fan, but it's not likely to be your new favourite from this author.

You can count on a great thriller every summer from Riley Sager, and this one does not disappoint. Loved the ghost story element and the character growth.

Like with most Riley Sager books, I read this in one sitting. His ability to build suspense is unmatched. I correctly guessed one twist pretty early but the other made me gasp out loud. In general I’m not a big supernatural person, but it works well here.

I am a huge fan and Riley Sager, and while I enjoyed this, it definitely was not my favorite of his. My main gripe with this story is that I felt like there was just a bit too much going on. I like the pacing of the book though and there were certain elements of this book that I really connected with, such as the spookiness and close knit neighborhoos setting.

Ethan Marsh's life was turned upside down when he was 10 years old and his best friend was stolen out of the tent they were sleeping in and never seen again. Now Ethan has returned to his childhood home and is facing the ghosts of his past. He's determined to find out what really happened to Billy on that fateful night thirty years ago. This book had plenty of twists and turns and a lot of red herrings. The second half of the book flew by! I didn't find some of the twists very surprising and the couple of misdirects that were thrown in seemed to be just that even as I was reading but it was a fun ride nonetheless and the ending felt like a reasonable wrap-up to the story. Another winner from Sager!

Wow Riley Sager has done it again! I could not put this book down. I don’t know if it was the 90’s reference, the dark and creepy abandoned institution, the supernatural references or what, but I kept getting Stranger Things vibes off and on which I absolutely love! I am looking forward to recommending this book to individuals and book clubs.